This isn’t so much a list of the few albums and songs that I loved more than anything else in 2015 as it is a list of the music that I’ve listened to the most and have the strongest associations to this year. When I think of 2015, I think of these albums and songs.

Also, to say that the following albums and songs are “the best” is dumb, so I’m going to say that these are my favorites of 2015 so far aka some music from 2015 that you should check out if you haven’t already.

Here are my 10 favorite albums, in alphabetical order:

Alabama Shakes – ‘Sound & Color’

Belle & Sebastian – “Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance’

Courtney Barnett – ‘Sometimes I Sit and Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit’

And here are my 20 favorite songs, in alphabetical order. To make things more interesting, I didn’t include any songs that came from any of my favorite albums (because most of those songs would be on this list).

Beach Slang – “Too Late to Die Young”

Best Coast – “Feeling Ok”

Carly Rae Jepsen – “I Really Like You”

Chromatics – “I Can Never Be Myself When You’re Around”

Colleen Green – “TV”

Craig Finn – “Newmyer’s Roof”

Dawes – “Don’t Send Me Away”

Desaparecidos – “MariKKKopa”

Diet Cig – “Scene Sick”

Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment – “Sunday Candy”

Downtown Boys – “Dancing In The Dark”

Hop Along – tie between “The Knock” and “Happy to See Me”

Hot Chip – “Huarache Lights”

Kacey Musgraves – “Dime Store Cowgirl”

Leon Bridges – “Smooth Sailin'”

Panda Bear – “Mr. Noah”

(The single came out last October, but I heard it for the first time when I listened to this year’s ‘Panda Bear Meets The Grim Reaper’, so I’m including it on this list.)

Sam Outlaw – “Jesus Take the Wheel (And Drive Me to a Bar)”

Sufjan Stevens – “Death with Dignity”

Titus Andronicus – “Dimed Out”

Tobias Jesso Jr. – “True Love”

(note: this song technically wasn’t on ‘Goon’, so I don’t feel bad about including TJJ on here)

And in case you missed it, here’s a Spotify playlist that I update throughout the year of all the songs that I like this year.

February in the Midwest is always a great time to listen to lots of music, since it’s too cold to leave the house. This month’s playlist includes many new songs and some deep tracks from Joe Cocker and Oasis.

With the exception of Yeezus, most of my June was spent going through bits of past ambient pop that I’ve grown to appreciate. Whether it’s IDM from the 90s (Aphex Twin), early 2000s indie-rock (Broken Social Scene), or the very recent dance pop from overseas (Disclosure), I was so into this music that I was almost tempted to go out and buy a mini controller. Almost. But of course there was plenty of other great non-electronic music to be heard this past month.

It looks like 2012 will be known as the year Rock music officially became the underdog genre again, and I’ve got some tracks to prove it. In addition to newer tunes from Japandroids and The Henry Clay People, I’ve got some old school rock from Guided By Voices, Blur, Smashing Pumpkins, and more. And oh yeah, I threw in a dance song because I could (and because it’s actually a great song).

1991 must have been an incredible year for music (I wouldn’t know, I wasn’t born yet!). Many remember 1991 simply as the year Nirvana released Nevermind, which ended hair metal and began a grunge movement that bands today are still taking inspiration from. As important as that album would become, there were many other albums released in 1991 that were just as good, if not better, than Nevermind. For the 20th anniversary of the great year that was 1991 (it was also the year Silence of the Lambs came out!) let’s take a walk down memory lane and see what music was released.

Soundgarden – Badmoterfinger

Pearl Jam – Ten

Stevie Ray Vaughan – The Sky Is Crying

Guns N’ Roses – Use Your Illusions I and II

U2 – Achtung Baby

B.B. King – Live at the Apollo

Nirvana – Nevermind

My Bloody Valentine – Loveless

Teenage Fanclub – Bandwagonesque

Metallica – Metallica (The Black Album)

Red Hot Chili Peppers – Blood Sugar Sex Magik

Blur – Leisure

The inspiration for this post came from an article from Guitar World, check out that article here.